2 Chronicles Chapter 18
1 Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he allied himself with Ahab.
2 After some years, he went down to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab killed sheep and cattle for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.
3 Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?" He answered him, "I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war."
4 Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please enquire first for the LORD's word."
5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" They said, "Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king."
6 But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we may enquire of him?"
7 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla." Jehoshaphat said, "Don't let the king say so."
8 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, "Get Micaiah the son of Imla quickly."
9 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah each sat on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
10 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron and said, "The LORD says, 'With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed.' "
11 All the prophets prophesied so, saying, "Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king."
12 The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Let your word therefore, please be like one of theirs, and speak good."
13 Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, I will say what my God says."
14 When he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" He said, "Go up, and prosper. They shall be delivered into your hand."
15 The king said to him, "How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the LORD's name?"
16 He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The LORD said, 'These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.' "
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"
18 Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the LORD's word: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.
19 The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One spoke saying in this way, and another saying in that way.
20 A spirit came out, stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will entice him.' "The LORD said to him, 'How?'
21 "He said, 'I will go, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' "He said, 'You will entice him, and will prevail also. Go and do so.'
22 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you."
23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the LORD's Spirit go from me to speak to you?"
24 Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself."
25 The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
26 and say, 'The king says, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace." ' "
27 Micaiah said, "If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." He said, "Listen, you people, all of you!"
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.
30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, "Don't fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel."
31 When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is the king of Israel!" Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
32 When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
33 A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armour. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, "Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am severely wounded."
34 The battle increased that day. However the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening; and at about sunset, he died.
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2 Chronicles Chapter 18 Guide
These chapters contain the story of a strange lapse in the history of Jehoshaphat, and also of his repentance and restoration. Ahab was king in Israel, perhaps the most evil that ever sat on the throne. With him Jehoshaphat made affinity. The story of this strange and false union is very interesting. The king of Judah attempted to insist, in the midst of the corruption of the court of Ahab, on the necessity for consulting Jehovah on the proposed campaign to Ramothgilead. It was strange company for a man of God to be in, and he barely escaped with his life, and would not have escaped but for the intervention of Jehovah. One nameless man "drew his bow at a venture," as the margin reads, "in his simplicity." It was not even a venture in the sense of an attempt, or a gambling against odds, in the hope of killing the king of Israel. It was done "in his simplicity," that is, artlessly, without any intention other than that of "carrying on" in the ordinary sense of that word. Probably this man already had shot many arrows, and he went on in his simplicity, little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God. Yet so it was.
Thus it is seen how the refuge of lies is never hidden from the eyes of God. Men may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them; but when the hour of their judgment has come, God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose. "It just happened," says the man of the world. "God did it," says the man of faith.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
2 Chronicles Chapter 18 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab.
Verses 1-34
This history we read in 1Ki 22. Abundant riches and honour give large opportunities of doing good, but they are attended with many snares and temptations. Men do not know much of the artifices of Satan and the deceitfulness of their own hearts, when they covet riches with the idea of being able to do good with them. What can hurt those whom God will protect? What can shelter those whom God will destroy? Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes, Ahab killed in his armour; for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. We should be cautious of entangling ourselves in the worldly undertakings of evil men; and still more we should avoid engaging in their sinful projects. But, when they call upon him, God can and will bring his faithful people out of the difficulties and dangers into which they have sinfully run themselves. He has all hearts in his hand, so that he easily rescues them. Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the Lord.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.